Cashback

it takes approximately 500

pounds to crush a human skull.

but the human emotion

is a much more delicate thing.

take suzy,

my first real girlfriend.

my first real breakup,

happening right in front of me.

i never thought it was going

to be similar to car crash.

i've slammed the brakes,

and i'm skidding towards

an emotional impact.

so is this all my fault?

me. ben willis.

it's funny what goes through

your mind at a time like this.

the two-and-a-half years

we spent together.

the promises we made.

the holidays we took

with her parents.

the lamp we bought

at ikea together.

it was my final year

at art college.

and in the weeks that

followed the breakup,

i tried to figure out

what went wrong.

why did we break up?

it's funny, but when i think back now the reason seems so small.

one day she's with me,

and she's saying "i love you, "

and the next week

she's with someone else.

probably saying

the same thing.

so did she

really love me?

what is love anyway?

and is it really

that fleeting?

forget about her. you don't wanna waste your time

thinking about a girl that dumped you for a loser like steve jenkins.

she didn't dump me.

why did she

chuck you anyway?

it ended

'cause suzy thinks the grass is always greener on the other side.

she's always worrying about there being a better party to go to.

or a better boyfriend

to be had.

i just felt i could

never make her happy.

and then steve jenkins

started texting her.

how did steve jenkins

get her number?

it was a good point.

i only imagined the worst.

i don't want

to think about it.

you need to go out with a beautiful girl. a model or something.

why?

well, because if you've got

a beautiful girl on your arm,

then you must

be worth having.

women are in competition

with each other, you see.

suzy sees you with a sexy baby,

she'll think to herself

"if i can get ben back

from that beautiful girl,

then i must be more

beautiful than her. "

sean's success with women

was pretty impressive.

it's true.

ask your mom.

the age-old question.

what is love?

excuse me.

that's good. that's perfect.

ben, mr. adams here

has given his time up for you.

don't you think we should show him a little bit of respect?

excuse me.

i live in student accommodation

not far from the college.

it's basically

a four-story concrete block

housing some 120

hormone-crazed students.

this is the haunting period.

the time when the demons

of regret come for you.

she stood right there

when i said those words:

"i'm sorry.

"i don't think

i can make you happy.

maybe we should break up. "

and that's when

she got angry.

hello?

suzy, it's me, ben.

ben! i was asleep.

what is it?

suzy, um...

i'm sorry.

i'm sorry too.

do you think there's any chance

we'll get back together?

i don't think so, ben.

i think it ran its course.

besides,

i'm with steve now.

have you

slept with him?

yes.

was it good?

i mean, is it better than...

i don't wanna talk

about it with you, ben.

i've gotta go.

sorry, ben.

- suzy?

to think about her now

with someone else,

it felt like all the oxygen

had been sucked from the room.

after my breakup with suzy, i just couldn't fall asleep anymore.

the more i tried to sleep,

the less tired i felt.

i was wide awake.

i tried everything.

i'd just become

immune to sleep.

i suddenly found

i had eight extra hours.

my life had been

extended by a third.

i wanted time to pass quickly, but instead i was forced to witness

the passing of every

second of every hour.

i wanted the hurt i felt

to go away.

but in some cruel trick

of events,

i now had even more time

on my hands.

more time

to think about suzy.

would you mind getting out?

just checking that wheel?

i took the bus

with no real place to go.

i watched the landscape slowly change as it clung to the last hours of sunlight,

before leaving me to get

another sleepless night.

i started to read all the books

i wished i'd had time to read.

with the extra hours, i even had time to reread my favorite ones.

but she was never far

from my mind.

two pounds 75, please.

ah, how much is it

without these two?

one pound 70.

it was getting obvious that i

needed to trade some of my time.

yeah, yeah, yeah.

yeah, yeah.

yeah. yeah.

mmm, mmm, mmm.

it all looks fantastic, man.

i think you'll fit in

very well here.

it's a great

feeling inside, ben.

it's marvelous. we hope

you've enjoyed reading about

what it's like to be part

of sainsbury's and listening.

i know, i've been

through this with you.

there's so many opportunities, ben. it's a life thing.

i could feel a faint shift

in a faraway place.

a current of unknown

consequences was on its way

moving towards me like

an unstoppable wave of fate.

t- e-a-m-w-o-r-k. work.

teamwork, ben.

welcome aboard.

and so i started working

the night shift at sainsbury's.

during the hours most

normal people are sleeping,

i'm busy trading my time.

i give them my extra eight hours, and they give me money. cash back.

- hi.

- oh, hi.

i'm late again. jenkins is gonna kill me. see you later.

yeah, see ya.

- sharon!

- yes, mr. jenkins?

- late again, sharon.

- i'm sorry, mr. jenkins.

- second time this week.

- i know, mr. jenkins.

i'm sorry,

it won't happen again.

okay.

my first year at art college

was boring to say the least.

but it helped me to appreciate

the fundamentals of still life.

i'd like to remind the customers

that there's a special

two for the price of one

offer on aisle ten.

fresh bread and cakes. that's aisle ten for a special two for the price of one offer.

well, don't just

stare at it, ben!

clean it up.

you see, i've always

wanted to be a painter.

and like many artists

before me,

the female form has always been

a great source of inspiration.

i've always been in awe of the power they unknowingly possess.

now, are you going

to clean them up or not?

there is an art to dealing with the boredom of an eight-hour shift.

an art to putting your mind somewhere else while the seconds slowly tick away.

i found that all

the people working here

had perfected

their own individual art.

take sharon pintey.

sharon knows rule number one.

the clock is the enemy.

the basic rule is this:

the more you look at the clock,

the slower the time goes.

it will uncover

the hiding place of your mind

and torture it

with every second.

this is the basic art in dealing with the trade of your time.

any cash back?

this is barry brickman.

you see, barry thinks of himself as a bit of a daredevil stuntman.

for a start,

barry is quite well-known.

when one of barry's

bike tricks went wrong,

the cameraman put it

on the internet.

barry has stuck

to his scooter ever since.

matt stephens is also

a king scooterer.

and what was

the other thing?

and what was

the other thing?

- sausage!

- oh, yeah.

now barry and matt

are good friends.

there you go.

take care.

between them, they have come

up with a very different way

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